light and fluffy here: tripping & ogling

(not the conclusion of the DMV drama, that is coming next week.  Thought I would pop up on a Thursday with something . . . )

Last week was an emotional roller coaster.  Something happened here that I am still coming to terms with, trying to process, and hoping to recover from . . . soon.  It is an incredibly long story that has unfolded over the course of a few years and I am trying to think of a way to share it without all the lengthy details.  I have referred to it before as an upcoming possibility, a life changing event.  No one died.  No divorce.  Different than that.  I had hoped to share a positive end result but that is not what happened. 

I hesitate to share though, since I prefer to keep things light and fluffy here.  Wouldn't we all just rather chuckle? 

Well, that was a cliff hanger if I ever saw one.  And, no promise of a definite "I will share this" in there.  Hope we can still be friends even though I have left you hanging, indefinitely.  I might yet share it, just have not found the energy to write about it.  Maybe that will help though.  

In light and fluffy news, (since that is going to distract me):  On Monday, Reg got braces in the little downtown area of a very high-end town near us. I met up with a good friend, Jane, who lives in that neighborhood in a beautiful home.  She is a wonderful, down to earth person with a big heart.  Someone who knew what I was going through and was good enough to listen to the latest drama and encourage me, offer support, suggestions, etc.  This was right before things got ugly so I was still describing the pre-ugly stuff to her.   

By the time Reg's braces were done, Jane and I had walked and talked our way through the beautiful town.  I told Mini that night that she and I should go there to walk.  Mini's eyes almost bugged out of her head, "YES!"  Mini loves to ogle mansions. 

Mini is working a lot.  Babysitting 4 or 5 days a week, and then caddying the other two to three days.  She can take a day off of caddying and sometimes she does.  Plus if something fun crops up, then I step in and handle the Tu/Thurs babysitting duties because it is happening in my house anyway (the dad works from home so Mini sits for that baby here).  This schedule has meant that we have not walked together during the summer months, the way we were during e-learning in the spring.

Mini agreed to wake up a few hours before her 9 am sitting gig so we could drive 15 minutes to mansion-ville, walk, and drive home.  Nothing interferes with this girl's sleep, so you know she was excited.

I walk fast.  No question.  Usually my mile walk is around 13.37 minutes - give or take.  Mini was struggling to keep up even though she is taller than me and  I was chugging along at 14.35 a mile.  Then the ogling became dangerous.  Just as I was scolding her for walking too fast, my 5'11" 16 year-old tripped.  Long limbs a-flailing, she caught herself.  

This one is old, I remember
 it when I was a kid.

Mansion-ville is old, many houses have been torn down to make way for bigger and better homes.  No comment here, OK - I will comment . . . I like the old, but anyway, the sidewalks are also old.  Some are really messed up and guess what's hard?  Ogling mansions and watching for messed up sidewalks.  

Mini tripped AGAIN.  I told her to watch her step.  My grandpa was a nervous man, worry-wart type.  He would make a little sound with his lip, like sucking air and then say a million times a minute:  "Watch yourself Babe, ah, ah, watch yourself Babe."  I can still see/hear him.  He would not have survived this walk with Mini - she would've given him a heart attack.  

Then finally Mini flew threw the air and skidded across the pavement.  Ouch.  She hopped up, with only the palm of her hand red and stinging.  She said she was fine and then she turned away to laugh at herself.   

I was also kicking myself:  WHAT A BAD IDEA?  THIS KID CANNOT HANDLE BEING DISTRACTED WHILE WALKING.  Duh.  

By the end of the walk I was walking far enough ahead, that I just called a warning over my shoulder when a tilted sidewalk was approaching.  That seemed to work.  Not exactly the mother/daughter feel-good walk I was going for though.

 A couple of outstanding new homes.
I told Mini I was
 taking a few pics for my blog and she wondered
 if I would mention her falling, hell yeah!

Jane and I introduced her daughter and Mini a few years ago - same age, different high schools, but they get along great.  I told Jane that Mini and I were planning to walk in her neighborhood.  She told me to let her know so that they could maybe walk with us.  

Mini NEEDED to walk as soon as I presented the idea to her and it was too soon to meet up with Jane, short notice and all.  But as I watched my kid trip her way along, I told her that I was glad we had taken this opportunity to practice walking, so she didn't embarrass herself in front of our friends.  

I imitated her tripping along like a cartoon character alongside her polished, act-together friend who resides in the very neighborhood Mini was drooling over, and we both bust a gut laughing.